Eminem - Not Afraid

The whole song/video is based on being stuck in that 'place' which is a state where you're depressed and possibly abusing drugs (based on Eminem's history). This video is mostly performance based even though it was establishing shots to give an overview of his surroundings. The New York city landscape could be representing how small he felt when he was in that 'place'. However now he is on top of a high building feeling good about what he has accomplished. Also it shows that he has a lot of power.

There  were a lot of tracking shots of him walking through the city, they used the tracking shots to keep up with his pace and still be able to see the surrounding area. There were also panning shots to catch the speed of him flying and to show that he has the power to face his demons and hold his crown up high.

The 'place' that he is referring to is the basement where he does half of his performance. The low key lighting in the basement gives the scene an ominous effect. The basement scene from this video is something i would like to incorporate in my own music video because the brick walls and old furniture  giving it a run down look.

I like the whole idea of the city scape and standing on top of a high building. That type of establishing shot makes the lead singer look like he has a lot of power.

The genre of this song by Eminem is rap, I know this due to some of the elements in the video eg. Costume. In one of the screen shots Eminem is wearing a chain around his neck and a black vest, this is typical clothing worn in a rap music video. Also in one of the other screen shot I noticed a patern within the clothing, because he wears black throughout the whole video. Which also fits the conventions of a typical rap video because you wont see bright colours being worn in a rap video. Another factor that tells you the genre is the performance and body language, he tends to throw his hands towards the camera whilst he is rapping and keeping eye contact with the camera.

The main in this music in two main ones, which is the city scape and the shots of him in a dark basement. The reason there was a shot of him in the basement was because it was a representation of him being poor and where he started from to get where he is now. Where he is now would be the city scape shot showing how tall he feels and how far he has come in life. This also fits with generic conventions because rap is associated with gangs and run down streets. The director chose to set the video in multiple environments because does it not only keep the audience entertained but also tells a story. One of the main props in this music video is the piece of paper he throws towards the camera, this is used to show what he used to work with when he was just starting off his rap career or just practicing in the basement. A simple prop like this can really give an atmosphere to the whole scene because if you're a fan of Eminem you'd understand what it meant. Towards the end of the video Eminem starts flying which is not very conventional when it comes to rap music videos. They did these special effects to indicate the power that he has over the whole city and how far he has come in life. However when he is walking through the street he seems very inferior and people are barging his shoulders like they have no respect for him. Throughout the whole video Eminem is the main focus which is very normal for rap videos. Also because in stereotypical rap songs they rap about their life so they have to focus the camera on them as if they are telling their life story.

In this video i liked the establishing shots because they gave the video a certain super human atmosphere/theme. Also the dark basement is very effective in videos where the meaning of the song is very deep and has more depth. From this video I would like to use to idea of the far wide shots showing the main singer and also showing the city behind him. Another idea I have about my video was taken from this video, which is having jump cuts to him rapping but then create a narrative story where he's just walking. In essence having certain scenes of him singing but then cutting to ones where it shows him in a real life situation.